About Us

The Solve ME/CFS Initiative (SMCI) – formerly CFIDS Association of America - was founded in 1987 and has established itself as the leading charitable organization dedicated to myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME)/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) – also known as chronic fatigue and immune dysfunction syndrome (CFIDS).

Our mission is to make ME/CFS widely understood, diagnosable, and treatable. We will do this by stimulating participatory, patient centered research aimed at the early detection, objective diagnosis and effective treatment of ME/CFS through expanded public, private and commercial investment.

Our Vision:A World Free of ME/CFS.

Our Mission:
Make ME/CFS understood, diagnosable, and treatable.

Our Strategy:
To stimulate participatory research aimed at the early detection, objective diagnosis and effective treatment of ME/CFS through expanded public, private and commercial investment.

Our Core Values:
To lead with integrity, innovation and purpose.

There is a big gap in the pipeline that moves basic laboratory research and discoveries into safe and effective treatments. Think of it like railroad tracks that stop at the edge of a canyon… Without a bridge to bring these remarkable discoveries to the clinic, laboratory research rarely becomes more than a science paper.

We recognized the need for basic researchers to move their discoveries through the pipeline, so we launched the Research Institute Without Walls (RIWW) – our translational research infrastructure.

TheResearch Institute Without Walls is a program and a philosophy that will lead to a more collaborative and productive approach to the science of solving ME/CFS. All RIWW projects are linked through us and to the SolveCFS BioBank and position SMCI at the center of a multi-spoked wheel of linked research projects directed by leading experts working in diverse disciplines.

Researchers funded through the RIWW must embrace our open approach and the opportunity it affords them to work across institutions and disciplines as a coordinated team. As Alexander Graham Bell once said, “Great discoveries and achievements invariably involve the cooperation of many minds.” The best answers come not from one individual, but from the group. The ultimate solution won’t come from one lab, but from one discovery informing another. This is the bedrock of the Research Institute Without Walls. Together we have changed the landscape of ME/CFS research to accelerate the path for safe and effective treatments, the search for the root cause and the quest for a cure.

Make a donation and help continue our important work. The Solve ME/CFS Initiative is a 501(c)(3) organization and donations are tax-deductible to the full extent allowed by law. We are fueled by gifts large and small, from people just like you.

About Us

On Feb. 10, 2015, the Institute of Medicine released a landmark report that contained a series of recommendations for ME/CFS, one of which called for the name to be changed to Systemic Exertion Intolerance Disease (SEID). While the name has not yet been formally adopted by world and federal health agencies, we will incorporate it into our communications where appropriate.